dwinsor_2001

Just wondering what would be the best wash and wax method? What wax would be best and what I should I be using to wash it, a chamois, washmit, sponge...?

Thanks

Black SS w/ Blue on Black

PBiddy412

Theres another forum discussing this I think uner the 2.2L Cobalt Forum. I can't quite remember.

Anyways, to answer your post, I been using Meguiar's NXT soap and there NXT Tech Wax and they do one hell of a job for me. I have a black cobalt myself and I did the whole wash and wax today and I am quite happy with the results!

wikkymaster

the best thing to do if you want amazing results would be, wash w/ brush to get rid of film(i always wash at local car wash, i work there lol), dry with chamois(i use "the absorber" works good), then use clay bar system from meguiars or whichever brand to get rid of imperfections in paint and remove old wax, then use a pre-wax polish to clean the paint and remove oxidization, then glaze to make it really shine, then wax (im currently using Eagle One Nanowax) and i just bought a buffer today so i was playin around with that earlier. yea it seems like a lot but just dedicate like one day to do your car and you will be amazed, also the NXT wax is awesome, i also use a detailing spray for when i wash my car and dont wax, makes it look like you just waxed. hope this helps lol

Nightcrawler

Yes.. The NXT soap is great stuff. It's the only soap out of several over the years that I've tried so far that really gives me the no water spot results I want. As an added bonus it actually cleans well too! haha I have hard water where I wash my car, so this soap with softener works great.

I also second that the NXT wax is also good and I'm currently using it, but I wouldn't consider it any better than several of the other leading quality waxes on the market. Although I must say my second coat this week on my SS significantly improved the look over the first coat I applied the week before. It is now looking great and I won't need to wax it again for awhile. I would definitely give it a try. It comes highly recommended from many.

I use a lambskin mitt for washing(you can pick it up at walmart). Works good. For drying I use a chamois. I have both a $15 Mequire and a $4.88 no name brand and quite frankly, the both work equally as well. I don't think the name brand or specially named chamoises are worth it as I saw no noticable difference.


I think wikkymaster's suggestions are valid, but a little over the top. I'm a believer you can keep a car in great condition without several of those steps such as pre-wax polish or claybar. Keeping up with the hand washing and waxing with some detailer polish in between is probably sufficient. I stay away from the car wash.. That self wash thing just never gives me the results I get from a good old fashion hand wash. It always leaves my car dirty or leaves a film, gives me waterspots, or otherwise gives me reason to feel I just wasted my money.

You have to keep up with it though. If you always have a good coat of wax on your car, dirt just slides right off with ease and you keep your paint pretty well protected.

jerm

iTrader: (1)

A clay bar and polish is only needed if the paint is damaged/scratched or has tar/tree sap bonded with the top coat. For normal maintenance those products are not usually needed.

wikkymaster

yea im just saying if you want the best possible results, hell sometimes i just wash my car then use the quick detalier spray stuff and it looks great, but when i have the time and really want it to look good i do all that stuff. and as for the film left from the self serve car wash, its cuz you didnt use the brush!! brush does wonders just make sure you give it a blast of high pressure rinse to get rid of dirt particles left in it to scratch your paint

Rad

i use the mr. clean auto dry..... that thing works magic!!!!!!

Nightcrawler

Does it work THIS kind of magic? These are the results I get. This is even between washes, but I did do a quick round of the NXT detailing spray before I took these.

http://transcorp.parodius.com/car/

The first 7 are extrior pics.

wikkymaster

dont forget i work at a car wash, my car is never dirty lol, as soon as dust gets on there, i wash it, i work everyday lol, and on the weekends during the afternoon when im not working, its in my garage getting waxed.

skyhunter1

Have anyone tried a product called 5 star shine? I found this while browsing looking for car care products. On their site they claimed that a bunch of companies it , including the US Navy. So I decided to check to see if this product was legit. Sure enough I found it on our FEDLOG. The only thing was that the government pays about $50 more than the general public. Here is a link to the site if you guys would like to check it out.

Archplsm

Hay good find.... looks interesting. I'm going to do a little more research on it then decide if I'll try it. It might worrk really nice on top of 10 coats of Zaino's

Archplsm

Hay just order that 5 star....get it in a week. I'll let everyone know what it's like. Got Zaino's on the car now, looking pretty good, we'll see what the 5 star is like. I'm going to try to put 8-10 coats of Zaino's on before putting the 5 star on, hope to get a long term Zaino's look on the car.

skyhunter1

I just ordered mine too. Iive been told that the Zaino is pretty good stuff too.

wikkymaster

the new meguiars NXT generation wax is supposedly the best wax right now

Saki XL

That 5-star looks absolutely awesome. Hopefully it's not too good to be true. We'll see about it when my SS/SC gets here.

Scarred

I use the same stuff. I just go to the DIY car wash and wash it, then take it over to the covered detail area and wax it, treat the leather, vaccum..blah blah blah

wikkymaster

yep, thats what i do

selfinfliction

i hope you're not using a clay bar more than once or twice a year??? why would anyone want to use those on a new car? they're designed for cars with tar, overspray and just trash on them from driving for a while. if you don't use those right you can ruin your paint job from a little slip up and i would not recommend those things at all on ANY new car. imho

wikkymaster

i had overspray on my hood, real little white dots, not sure how they got there, clay bar took it right off, i only used it on my hood and left front fender cuz thats all that needed it, clay bar works great though if you have any little thing messed up on your paint, i would recommend it

sweettheshocker

Thanks to the advice of you guys, I picked up some new stuff, combined it with some old favorites and washed and waxed extensively yesterday. I must say I was quite please, although it was a pretty tiring process...

check out the results, tell me what you think. (and the stuff I used is pictured too)

http://community.webshots.com/album/378615975KZxsHB?250

PS- I took the pics at my girlfriends house... so if you notice the 4-car garage and the Mercedes-Benz CLK 500 AMG in the background, dont ask "why didnt this kid just get the SS", haha

wikkymaster

ok i gotta know what you did with your front emblem, i want to get rid of mine

wikkymaster

and gj on gettin the techwax and i love the absorber!!

sweettheshocker

one of my younger brothers is a whiz with an airbrush... we just painted it with some autospray touch up paint.... black was easy to match, but some of the other cobalt colors would be a little tougher.

Archplsm

Well Got my 5 star shine in today. Still trying to verify it will work with Zainos. Found out the complete ingredients to day for the 1st step and their are some ugly thing in their.... nothing bad for the car though. The 1st step is a stripper with a positive charge "primer". Since their system is polymer based and so is Zainos I'm hoping it will not strip the Zainos. I'm talking to Zaino's tomarrow and sending the ingredients to them and let them tell what it will do. If all's good, the 5 star shine will go on this weekend.... will post pics and maybe video if I can figure how to get it of my phone.

wikkymaster

awesome i was lookin at getting that stuff too